Breath of Life
by fireferret07
Summary: The story of two lovers, who make the mistake of keeping their relationship secret from the world for several years. Only when things get cocky, do they realize the love they feel for one another is too strong to let everything that happens tear them apart. Lin Beifong x Tarrlok Rated M for upcoming smut.
1. Meeting

Title; Breath of Life

Fandom; Legend of Korra

Era; Various

Pairing; Lin Beifong x Tarrlok

Rating; M

Title Credit; "Breath of Life" – Florence and the Machine

Plot; Original idea

**~Warnings~**

Drama

Smut

Romance

**Chapter 1**

~Meeting~

The alarm rang. Lin's eyes opened, and she grumbled as her peaceful sleep was interrupted by the bell-like sound. She turned the alarm off and stretched her tired body. She hadn't slept too well the previous night. Well, actually she hadn't been sleeping well that whole week. She had some horrible nightmares that caused her to wake up in cold sweat. Then it was simply too hard to fall back to sleep. Saikhan said it was because of the stress, but she disagreed. She knew there was another reason for this. Tenzin. The man she had fallen for all those years ago. The man who had broken her heart. The man who had run away with another woman. Pema. That damned non-bender who offered herself completely to Tenzin in order to win him over.

Lin groaned frustrated. Why was she even bothering with all this? When Tenzin broke them up, the romance between the two was already blowing out. It was still painful, though. Lin could remember how she felt when Tenzin declared their relationship over. Then, Pema had appeared. She had apologized to an astonished Lin and had left with Tenzin. Lin didn't cry. Not there; not in front of them.

With those thoughts in her head, Lin pushed herself from the bed and removed her night robes. She walked to the closet and picked an undershirt and a pair of underpants, as well as socks. After pulling them on, she used her metal bending to dress in her uniform. It was heavy and uncomfortable, but Lin was proud to wear it. Taking her mother's place as Chief of Police meant the world to her.

Without bothering to comb her hair, or put on any make up, she made her way downstairs and pulled on her coat before heading out of the house and locking the door. Lin's house was small, but warm. With the Beifong fortune she could buy the largest Mansion in the city, but she was never interested in such luxuries. She didn't even have a Satomobile, even though she could drive. She liked going to work on foot. If she needed to, she asked Saikhan to drive her back in the evening. And he never refused.

In less than half an hour, she was entering the Police headquarters. Her officers were greeting her formally, and she was nodding back at them. Except for Saikhan, no body else had a close relationship with the Chief of Police. They probably found her too intimidating to open up to her. She didn't care. Being sensible was for the week. Being cold and detached would prevent her from getting hurt again.

Entering her office, she found Saikhan leaving a small pack of papers on her desk. "Morning, Captain." She greeted formally. "Good morning, Lin." He teased with a playful smirk. He liked to tease her when she was trying to sound formal. She shook her head and pulled off her coat. "Had trouble sleeping again?" he asked, watching her as she went to the coffee machine to prepare her morning coffee. "Yeah. It has reduced a little, but I still feel exhausted in the mornings."

"Maybe you should stop drinking so much coffee." He shrugged.

"If I stop drinking coffee, I'll be falling asleep on my desk in the morning." She yawned.

The phone rang. "Get it, will you?" she sighed, turning her attention to the coffee machine. Saikhan nodded and picked the phone up. "How can we help you?" he paused for a moment. "Councilman Tenzin, good morning." He greeted. Lin froze in place, hearing Tenzin's name. What in the world could he want now? What ever it was, it couldn't be good. "Lin, it's for you."

Lin feared he would say that, and taking a deep breath, she took the phone from Saikhan. "What is it?" she asked coldly. "Alright, fine. I'm coming." She shut the phone down and tuned to Saikhan, who starred at her with a raised eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked.

"The new Councilman from the Northern Watertribe has just arrived. I should go meet him." She mumbled, pulling her coat back on. "Manage my paperwork while I'm gone." He nodded and watched her as she headed out of the office.

Lin made her way downstairs an out of the headquarters, not paying attention to the officers giving her weird looks. She wasn't in the mood to meet anyone right now, but as the Chief of Police, it would be rude not to show up to welcome the city's new authority figure. All she knew was that the Councilman was a male, and the youngest person to ever hold such a post.

She reached City Hall a couple of minutes later, and entered. All the Councilmen and Councilwomen were expecting her. Lin avoided to look at Tenzin, even though she could tell he was starring at her when she entered the room.

"Ah, you must be Chief Beifong." Lin heard an unknown voice call her, and she assumed it would be the new Councilman's. She turned towards the voice to face a tall young man. His skin was dark and his eyes blue. He was wearing traditional Watertribe clothes, and he had his hair caught in three long ponytails. "It's an honour to finally meet you." He declared, grinning charmingly at her and he took her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles.

He was trying to be charming, but what he didn't know was that Lin wouldn't fall for these. Seeing she wasn't going to say anything, the man bowed his head before introducing himself. "I am Councilman Tarrlok. The new representative for the Northern Watertribe."

Lin nodded, but again remained silent. Tenzin broke the awkward silence. "Well, then. I guess we can let Chief Beifong go back to her duties now. I'm sure she's pretty busy." She glanced at Tenzin and turned to leave, happy this was done. While she was heading to the exit, she heard fast footsteps behind her, but she didn't turn to look. Tarrlok caught up with her. "Chief Beifong, can I speak to you for a moment?"

Lin stopped and turned to look at the young man standing before her. She had to admit, he was very handsome. "Spill." She replied coldly, urging him to speak. "The other Council members have decided to invite me to dinner, in order to welcome me to the City. I was just wondering if you could be so kind to escort me?" he questioned.

Lin was taken aback. Why would a guy like Tarrlok ask _her _to escort him out. She was a lot older than him and not exactly the dating type. "Why don't you ask a girl your age, kid?"

Tarrlok paused for a moment. "Apart from the fact that I don't know many people around the City, I believe you would be the most beautiful partner for me." She was flattered. It had been a while since someone had complimented her like that. She wanted to agree. She really did. But the thought of Tenzin showing up with Pema was making her stomach turn. Oh, screw Tenzin! He wasn't going to define her life.

"Alright." She agreed.

Tarrlok grinned. "I will come by to pick you up at seven." He declared and reached to take her hand in order to kiss it again, but Lin had already turned around and was heading to the exit.

**A/N; **So, I know you're used in me posting Lin/Tenzin but my muse is gone right now, so I decided to try a new pairing. I will continue posting Linzin, however. Please, review to tell me your opinion. Thanks!


	2. Dinner

**A/N; **So, extra classes have started and they are already annoying, guh. Since I'm two years from college, it's time for me to get studying, which means I don't know how much free time I'll have from now on. I'll try, however, to finish this, and I will be sporadically posting for 'Desires' and 'Sin'. Please, review and tell me your opinion about my writing. No hate/harassment. English isn't my first language.

I don't own the Legend of Korra.

**Chapter 2**

~Dinner~

It had been a busy evening for Lin. Since she returned home from work, she had been searching through her closet for some appropriate clothing to wear in the evening. Her bedroom was a mess, as she kept tossing the clothing she didn't like on the floor. In the end, she found an old black dress Tenzin had bought her several years ago. It was long and slim. She tried it on and it still fit perfectly. It was strapless and it made her breasts look full and young. The dark fabric slid down her slim body perfectly. She admired her reflection in the mirror and smiled lightly. It wasn't too bad. She checked the clock. She still had half an hour. Standing in front of the mirror, she combed her black hair and set it free, letting it fall on her back. She did a light make up and pulled on a pair of high heels. She brushed her teeth and used an old perfume of hers, which she hadn't used in years. It wasn't as if she was invited out everyday. It didn't matter anyways.

Lin was admiring her reflection for the last time, when she heard a knock on the door. It must've been Tarrlok. Grabbing her bag, the Policewoman made her way downstairs and opened the door. Tarrlok was wearing Traditional clothing again, a little more formal. His hair was perfect and he was grinning charmingly down at her. "Chief Beifong. May I say you look like a blooming flower tonight?" he complimented, taking her hand and kissing it. Lin couldn't help but smirk. For a moment she wondered if he meant it.

_Of course he didn't mean it, you idiot! He was only trying to be charming! _Her head screamed.

Nevertheless, she followed him out, closing and locking the door behind her. There was no turning back now. Still she was nervous about seeing Tenzin and Pema, but she promised herself she'd try to ignore them. Of course, she would speak to them only if they spoke to her, but other than that…

Lin climbed in Tarrlok's Satomobile and sat there quietly. They were silent during the drive. It seemed that even Tarrlok had nothing to say this time. He had probably noticed she wasn't going to fall that easily. It took them about ten minutes to reach their destination; a large restaurant by the sea. They got off of the Satomobile and Tarrlok offered Lin his arm, which she took after a small thought. The head waiter led them to their table. The rest of the Council Members were already there.

Lin shot a deadly glare at Pema. She was glad their seats were opposite of those Tenzin and his wife had occupied. "Tarrlok. We were beginning to worry you wouldn't show up." The Councilman from the Southern Watertribe joked. "Yeah, it seems Chief Beifong overslept." Pema added while she was looking through the Menu and everyone turned to look at her. Even Tenzin was shocked by her comment. Lin rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sorry I was busy at work." She replied coldly.

"Is that what they call it now?" Pema huffed.

Tenzin turned to his wife and to everyone's surprise he spoke. "Pema, I think this is enough." He almost scolded.

Pema glared at Lin and looked at the Menu again. Lin decided to pay no attention, and instead, she focused on Tarrlok. The young Councilman handed her a Menu and she began looking through it.

In the end, she decided on some Italian Spaghetti and Tarrlok on fried fish and sea prunes, much like back at the Watertribes.

The rest of the evening run smoothly. Lin avoided contact with Tenzin and Pema, while Tarrlok was focusing all his courting skills on his partner. He was disappointed to see she hardly responded to his flatter and kind words, but he wasn't a person to give up easily. Tenzin was starting to get annoyed by all this. He knew Tarrlok wasn't interested in Lin and even if there was nothing between him and the Chief of Police, he would hate to see her hurt and broken.

When dinner was over, Tenzin motioned to Tarrlok to come closer and he led the Waterbender away from the rest. "Tarrlok. I don't know what you're plotting, but I suggest you stop playing with Lin."

Tarrlok raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Tenzin. She was my partner for the evening. A little flattery is always making the atmosphere smoother." The young man shrugged and he walked away. Lin was waiting outside, by Tarrlok's Satomobile.

Tarrlok approached her, grinning charmingly. "So, Chief. Would you like to join me in a small walk on the beach?" he questioned.

Lin remained silent. The idea was tempting, but then again, she had work in the morning and if anyone saw them together, they'd think something was going on between them, which would be scandalous, considering Tarrlok was a lot younger than her. "I can't tonight." She replied finally. "I have work in the morning."

"Only for a small while." Tarrlok promised and Lin sighed. "Fine."

A part of her wanted to go. It would be something off the daily routine. Tarrlok led her to the beach and they pulled their shoes off, in order to walk on the sand. Lin grinned widely, feeling the war sand to embrace her white feet. He was watching her with the corner of his eye. She was charming for her age. He picked a flower from a nearby bush, and handed it to her. She took it surprised and smiled lightly. "Thank you." She said breathlessly.

"You're welcome, Lin. May I call you Lin?"

She nodded and turned her gaze away again.

Half an hour later, they were returning to Lin's house. Like a gentleman, Tarrlok escorted her to the door. "So…" he coughed. "Goodnight."

She turned to look at him and nodded. "Goodnight."


End file.
